1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a molding device for setting up two molds and to a method for setting up the molds using the molding device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a molding device 100 shown in FIG. 5 as a molding device for manufacturing an optical component such as a glass lens. The molding device 100 forms a cavity (not shown) by closing an upper mold 110 having a cavity surface 111 in the lower surface thereof and a lower mold 120 having a cavity surface 121 in the upper surface thereof and presses a material in the cavity to manufacture a product such as a lens.
When the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120 are set up in the mold device 100, a lower part of a cylindrical body mold 130 is first fitted to an exterior of the lower mold 120, which is fixed to a base plate 141 as a base member. Then, the upper mold 110 held by a slider 144 that is movable in an up and down direction is inserted into an upper part of the body mold 130, to thereby align axes of the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120 with each other (e.g., see JP 2005-170751 A (paragraph 0021 and FIG. 1)).
The upper mold 110 is formed with a taper surface 113 along an outer peripheral edge of a lower surface thereof. The body mold 130 is formed with a taper surface 131 along an inner peripheral edge of an upper opening thereof.
Also, a elastic member 146, such as a rubber material or a spring, is interposed between a chuck member 145 that holds the upper mold 110 and the slider 144. When the elastic member 146 bends, the upper mold 110 is moved in a horizontal direction. In the case where the axes of the upper mold and the lower mold 120 are misaligned upon setting up the upper and lower molds 110, 120, the taper surface 113 of the upper mold 110 abuts against the taper surface 131 of the body mold 130 and the upper mold 110 is moved with following the taper surface 131 of the body mold 130. Thereby, a position of the upper mold 110 is adjusted. As a result, the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120 are placed in a state where the axes of them are aligned with each other.
However, in the molding device 100, a reaction force acts upon the upper mold 110 due to the bending of the elastic member 146 when the upper mold 110 moves along the body mold 130. This increases a contact pressure between the upper mold 110 and the body mold 130, and the upper mold 110 gnaws the body mold 130. Therefore, the upper mold 110 is worn or damaged.